


It Won't Cost Much

by buying_the_space_farm



Series: Gift and Prompt Fics [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: (of a sort), Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Consentacles, Id Fic, M/M, Octo!Loki, Prompt Fic, Rimming, Tentacle Sex, pwp that grew plot, young adult Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 22:23:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18669556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buying_the_space_farm/pseuds/buying_the_space_farm
Summary: One doesn't think of dark, tempting depths when on an island. But something is out there, and that something wants Tony.





	It Won't Cost Much

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PunkPlaidKitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunkPlaidKitty/gifts).



> LITERALLY A YEAR IN THE MAKING,,,, A YEAR,,,,,,,,,, the long awaited octo!loki fic that everyone knows about by this point and im so sorry it took so long klahsdf  
> all this from the prompt "Full Ursala style sea witch loki. 8 tentacles and an opening. And all of the drama." and then none of that happened SORRY ALSKDJ  
> note: i dont recommend ocean sex. germs near sensitive things is BAD  
> edit: i got wicked wicked art made for a scene by [dendrite_blues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dendrite_blues) so [check it out!](https://dendrite-blues.tumblr.com/post/184619296406/loki-pressed-forward-and-brought-their-mouths)

Being a 19-year-old Tony Stark wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Being a 19-year-old Tony Stark on an island vacation? Kinda more of what it was cracked up to be.

Being a 19-year-old Tony Stark on said vacation with his dear, dear father, Howard Stark, however? There wasn’t a universe out there where that could be at all what it was cracked up to be.

Cue him hiding as far away as possible from his family while still remaining on dry land. Only mostly though, because he may or may not have taken it upon himself to explore the local caves. The ones that he had been warned away from because of the “dangerous sea witch”. The "sea witch" that would “take him to the depths of the ocean to eat his soul”.

What a bunch of bullshit.

Climbing through a bunch of caves wasn't by any means his normal source of fun, but any excuses that Tony could think of to go to Rhodey's for the summer hadn't flown. It was too bad, really. There was no redeeming value to a summer break that wasn't spent doing some sort of crazy science or doing some sort of crazy thing with Rhodey and that was his professional opinion.

Possibly discovering some strange, rare marine creature, however, was pretty great too. And the town legends would hardly feature in all the warnings for nothing, now would they?

At least that was the reasoning he used when he went to convince Mom and Howard that him leaving and venturing off on his own for the whole day was an absolutely necessary thing.

And absolutely necessary it had proven to be, seeing as it had taken him almost an hour to get to the first cave, via a combination of swimming, mincing his way across sharp as hell rocks, and walking much farther than he had anticipated. Didn't mean he was gonna give up though, not even if it killed—

“Fuck!” His bare foot slipped on the slick rock and he came crashing down on his ass, almost cracking his head against the rock. Tony groaned as he sat up, rubbing the sure to soon bruised skin of his back. Glancing around, he didn’t see anything of interest, but there was still something about the place that drew him in. Thankfully the bag Tony had been dragging along with him hadn't suffered the same broken dignity and had stayed closed when he had succumbed to gravity. That meant that his delicate camera was safe, as well as his notebook which would most likely prove to be useless in the long run, but was needed for the ruse of doing research.

It’d be nice to just… relax for a while and not have to be constantly showing that he was doing something “worthwhile”, something that Howard Stark could be “proud” of. He was only ever proud of Tony when they were in public. What a wonderful father-son relationship there, right?

Instead of trying to stand— and falling again— Tony crawled to the lip of the pool inside the cave and let his lower legs drop into the cool water below. He could already feel the damp seeping through the seat of his pants, but he leaned back on his locked arms and let his mind wander for the shortest while.

His family wasn’t known for biological discoveries, so if he did manage to find something, unlikely as it was, it would be—

“What the fuck was that!?” Tony jerked his legs out of the water and sent himself toppling backward for the second time in as many minutes. Something had touched his leg, and it hadn’t felt like any fish he knew of. It had been bumpy, and it curled around his leg and what the hell. Sure there was the possibility that it was an octopus or a squid or some shit. The thing was, there was nothing native that could be that big.

Unless… unless he really was going to discover some new species that humans had somehow managed to miss for years as they populated the island. Stranger things had happened.

He scrambled back towards his bag, skinning his knee in the process, and rooted through his bag, hunting for his camera. With a muttered “Yes!” he dragged himself back to the edge of the pool and hovered over the water, camera at the ready.

Nothing.

Nothing showed from under the dark water, no writhing mass of huge tentacles, no malformed cephalopods, nothing that could be considered evidence of anything. Then—

“Ha! Got you, you bastard.” Tony smirked, brought the camera closer, focused the lens and snapped a picture. Only for the camera to then drop out of his hands— despite his being very careful to keep a good grasp on the thing— and into the salt water, ruined forever. “No!” He almost threw himself in after it. He stuck his hand in the water after it and swished it around but got nothing. He was sure he could have saved something from it, but it had vanished into the dark depths where the thing had been.

Tony sat back once more and crossed his arms, hunching his shoulders against the sudden chill that had invaded the cave. “Fucking gravity and fucking butterfingers and fuck it took me so long to get here!” He let his legs drop into the water again and kicked at it, sending waves and droplets crashing around him. The poor animal was probably scared now, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It was long gone and wouldn't touch him again, so it wasn’t like there was any reason to not try to enjoy the fact that he was on an island.

Slipping off his shirt and sliding into the water, he felt a tickle run down the back of his neck, like someone was watching him. A quick glance around the cavern revealed that it was just as empty as when he had arrived. Still, the feeling settled into his bones, making the chill cave seem colder.

As he whiled away the allotted time he had managed to beg off from his parents, the feeling grew even stronger, if anything. Tony constantly looked over his shoulder, but never saw a local girl giggling to herself, or a poorly hidden paparazzi.

It was just him and the deep, dark water he was floating in.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, both his mom and Howard managed to not notice the absence of his camera, which was a blessing far greater than most would realize.

It wasn’t about the expense that buying a new camera would be— Howard couldn’t give less of a shit about that. It was about the fact that he wouldn’t “take care of your belongings like a responsible adult if it killed you” or that he “didn’t have a care in the world because everything you’ve wanted has been handed to you on a silver platter.” Three guesses who said all that, and the first two don’t count.

They were rich, it would be easy to get a new camera. But new memories of a semi-stress free vacation? He didn’t want to ruin that for his mom, no matter how much he hated Howard. Even so, he wouldn’t go on another vacation with Howard if his life depended on it. Tony wasn’t that suicidal.

His watch seemed to taunt him with how long it took before he could finally slip away to explore again, almost like it took twice as long as the day before.

Tony had meant to explore the majority of the island by the end of the family vacation, but there was something about that sea cave drew him back. And an extra day in one place couldn’t hurt anything. He still had three months to get to the rest of the places the locals had either recommended or warned him about.

There was just some sort of mysterious air about the cave and he wanted to figure out what it was. Even discounting the local legends, there had to be something there that would make others downright terrified of a simple cave. And he planned on seeing what it was.

And see something he did.

The cool, slick stone around the pool was exactly the same as the day before, except for one thing— his camera was back. Not just back, but in what seemed to be in perfect condition, not a single drop of water on it, not even a dried salt stain.

Tony couldn’t help but scramble over to it, dropping to his knees rather painfully, his bag all but forgotten at his side. He didn’t give a single fuck about damage to a notebook and some pens, or another scraped knee, because the camera that he had dropped, and seen disappear with his own two eyes into the depths was right here, back in front of him, and nothing was wrong with it.

Popping open the back of the camera to look at the film, it looked like water hadn't even dreamed of touching the inner workings of the device. He quickly closed it up and brought the viewfinder up to his face to peer through it, and took a test photo of the opposite wall. Of course, he’d have to get them developed to really be able to see if the camera was actually working, and not some sort of hallucination, but from his cursory look, it seemed like it was fine. Better than fine actually, like it was right off of the assembly line.

“How in the hell?” He muttered to the empty cave, still turning the camera over and over in his hands.

“It was rather simple, really. Would you like me to explain it to you?”

Fumbling the camera and nearly dropping it into the water for the second time in as many days, Tony managed to clutch it to his chest before looking about the cavern for the source of the voice.

It came from a man, which had been easily guessed from the deep but melodic timbre of the voice. Having settled into place just far enough off to the side of the pool that he wasn’t immediately seen upon entering the cave, it wasn’t any wonder that Tony had managed to miss him in his mad dash towards his camera. He hadn’t been out of the water in the first place it looked like. Still half submerged in the water, he looked to be leaning against the rocky side below, anchoring himself in place by leaning on the floor with his forearms, leaving his torso in the open air.

“Hi, yeah, uh, what the fuck?” Tony said, letting out a hysterical laugh halfway through. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you,” the man said, drawing a hand through his dark hair, and sweeping it over his shoulder, so it laid across his chest. Tony didn’t know for sure, but it looked so long that even pulled forward it would be dragging through the water. “Isn’t coming down to this side of the beach forbidden?”

“If you call a few wooden signs and some old people warning me off “forbidden”, then sure, yeah,” Tony said, rolling his eyes, moving to sit cross-legged, but still keeping the stranger within sight. “Didn’t do much to stop me though, now did it? Doesn’t mean you don’t have the same excuse.”

The man smirked. “I don’t have the same excuse, true. But that’s because I live around here, not because I’m some sort of nosey tourist.”

Tony would have been insulted if it hadn’t been true.

“Well, if you were raised here, wouldn’t you know all the legends?” He asked, voice full of a cockiness he didn’t feel. “No one wanted to even show me the general location of this place, let alone lead me to the point of no return.”

“It does help that I live on the opposite side of the island,” the man said, shrugging one pale shoulder. “I haven’t had the opportunity to get to know many people on this island, and that’s saying something, as I’m sure you’ve discovered.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “You don't even look any older than me, and you’re trying to tell me that you don't know anyone on the island?”

“Believe me, or don’t,” he replied. “But it’s the truth no matter how you look at it.”

“This place doesn’t even qualify as a town,” Tony scoffed. “And you want me to believe that if I go back to the middle of this godforsaken place and ask someone about you, they won’t be able to tell me a goddamn thing about you?”

“Now I never said that.”

Tony raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“One could say I have a certain reputation that precedes me.” He shrugged again. “Doesn’t make for a very warm welcoming party.”

“Come from bad stock according to the masses?” Tony asked, bitterness creeping into his voice.

The man’s green eyes twinkled with wry humor. “Have some experience with that brand of gossip, do you?”

“More than you’d ever like to encounter in your life.”

He hummed. “I can only imagine.”

“You really don’t want to,” Tony said, screwing up his face. “Think town square gossip but from all sides and then triple that.”

“Well then,” The man said, eyebrows raising. “That certainly is a lot. I’m assuming you're more than a bit famous when you’re not dropping picture-grabbers into the ocean?”

This time Tony did drop the camera, but onto his lap and nowhere near any camera-killing water thankfully.

“I’m sorry, what?” He sputtered. “Picture-grabber? How do you not know what a camera is? Like, really, how far under a rock do you live?”

The man shrank down just the slightest bit and Tony felt a bolt of remorse for his teasing.

Head ducked down and speaking to the stone floor that he was now eye-level with, the man answered. “One might say I live “under a rock.” I did say I haven't ever really met anyone here on the island, didn’t I?”

Shrinking down just the slightest bit himself, Tony had the decency to feel abashed.

“I'm— that was a tad rude, wasn't it,” he said, making it more of a statement than a question.

The other man just shrugged again, still staring at the floor in front of him.

“Look, I'm, I'm sorry, alright?” Strange as it might seem, Tony was… not invested, but there was something that drew him to the man, the same thing that had drawn him to this cave in the first place. “I'm Tony, and you are?”

Maybe a new line of conversation would spark things up again.

He hoped it would spark things up again.

Tony bit his lip as the man stared at him for a long second and was about to deflect, and say it was alright if he wanted him to leave or—

“Loki.”

“What?” Tony blurted out. He had been almost positive that the man— Loki had been about to yell at him.

“You asked for my name,” Loki said slowly as if Tony was stupid. “And I told you.”

“No, yeah, I mean—” Tony stammered, flushing. “I kinda— I figured that out, thanks.” He glanced out the mouth of the cave towards the ocean, the crashing of the waves filling the awkward silence he had managed to summon.

“Perhaps we might start over?” Loki asked, interrupting Tony’s brooding. “My name is Loki, and I in fact rescued your camera—” and again he slowed down as he talked, this time sounding out the apparently unfamiliar word— “and would be happy to show you how I did it. Perhaps you could even tell me your name?” He smiled, teasing Tony, his teeth peeking out from behind his lips, and while they looked too sharp to be real, he couldn't help but smile shyly back at him. “I mean, I know you already told me, but for the sake of beginning again…”

“Tony,” he replied, and they started over.

* * *

There were many things that Tony hadn’t expected to happen to him that day. Getting back his camera was one of them. Meeting someone who redefined the word recluse was another. And all this happened while he sat at the edge of a pool in a cave by the ocean, his feet swishing through the cool water.

“Alright,” Tony said, forefinger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. “What you're telling me right now is that you have never heard of a camera before today— but know how to fix one with water damage somehow— barely know what the concept of an oven is, but you can rattle off every recorded shipwreck within 40 miles of the island, and what types of ships they are?” He couldn’t help but let out a stunned huff of laughter. “There’s sheltered, and then there is isolated from the rest of society, Loki.”

The other waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “My parents wanted to protect me, Tony. It’s what a lot of my— a lot of families do, isn't it?”

Tony narrowed his eyes at Loki’s quick correction in the middle of his sentence but didn’t press it.

“I guess so,” he said pursing his lips. “But how would you even grow up to be that secluded? You still live on an island with other people. Sure they might not come out in this direction a lot, but surely you’ve had to go into town to get things?”

“No, not really. My family has always been very self-sufficient, so I've never had much of a reason to change my ways as it were.” Loki acted like it was the simplest thing in the world to not know what a television was. Tony was a little concerned.

“Okay, but like honestly, where do you live that you could have not even heard of any of this stuff, let alone seen it?” Tony asked, horrified awe coloring his voice.

Loki pressed closer to the wall of the pool, glancing up at Tony from under his eyelashes. “It’s more than a bit of a secret, I don't really like telling people that I don’t know.” He glanced down at the dark water and ran his fingers through his now dry hair, frizzy from the salt water. “I think I could make an exception for you, however.”

Tony quirked an eyebrow and grinned. “Managed to fix my mistakes from earlier, I guess, huh?”

Chuckling, Loki looked up at Tony from under his thick eyelashes, and wow his eyes were so green that they were verging on luminescent, how hadn’t he managed to notice that before? Tony would gladly admit that he was so distracted he almost missed Loki’s reply.

“Yes, you did actually. Surprising, I know,” Loki said, the teasing tone of his voice softening what could have been rather harsh words.

Trying to clear his head, Tony shook his head shortly, then flashed a small smile at Loki’s concerned look. “Something caught my eye is all. Got distracted.”

“I hope you won't get distracted on the way to my, erm, house because it’s a bit of a swim.”

Tony cocked head to the side. “Wait, you don't actually live on the island? How far away is it exactly?”

“Not too far, in my opinion, but I also make the swim at least three times a day.” Loki shrugged. “Probably about 20 minutes with you tagging along?”

“Oh, shit that’s gonna be long,” he groaned.

Loki cocked his head to the side, an unasked question in his eyes.

“Eh,” Tony said, raising a hand and scratching the back of his neck, “I’m not the best swimmer around, but that’s putting it lightly.”

The look of confusion deepened on Loki’s face. “You… don’t know how to swim?”

"I mean, I can, but I won't be winning any trophies any time soon. Doggie paddle is definitely more my style,” he said.

Realization bloomed across Loki’s face, along with a touch of determination. “That won’t be much of an issue the way we’re going.”

“How do you mean?” Tony asked. “There’s really only one sustainable way to swim a long distance for a beginner like me.”

“I think you’ll find I have a rather interesting route.” Loki then smirked and drew himself up so almost all of his torso was visible outside of the water. “Could you come closer please?”

Staring at the foot or so of difference between them, Tony didn't see how much closer they could be without encroaching on each other’s personal space, still being relative strangers.

“Sure?” The rising note of his voice at the end of the word gave away his blatant uncertainty.

Shifting across the wet stone beneath him, Tony moved till he had to spread his legs just the slightest bit around Loki to make sure they wouldn’t touch.

That was made into less of a problem when Loki grabbed his hips and used his heretofore unknown impressive upper arm strength to lever himself up to kiss him.

In Tony’s opinion, it was less of a kiss and more of a crashing their mouths, what with Loki forcing his lips open with his tongue and… breathing air into him? That didn’t quite stop him from trying to return the weird-ass kiss that was going on right now, because hello, hot guy, flirting and kissing him, that is a hell of a chance to pass up.

Loki pulling him into the water to actually return the kiss was a bit far for Tony’s tastes though, especially when his head went fully under water. Especially, especially when Tony started to feel the very pressing need to breathe.

Then Loki did something with his tongue while at the same time running his fingers up his sides and Tony gasped, sucking in two lungs full of water— but didn't feel anything wrong. Just the feeling of breathing normal air, something that Should Not Be Happening if he was underwater.

Tony pushed Loki away, hands against his chest (and not getting distracted by how toned he felt under his fingertips), and breathed in a few more breaths that just weren't possible. In any reality or realm on Earth. It. Humans weren't. What the hell was going on. That’s all he wanted to know, what was going on.

“Uh,” was all he managed to say. Which still should have been impossible, but one biological fact breaking at a time was all he could handle right now.

Loki cocked his head to the side again. “Tony?”

Shifting his hands from Loki’s chest to his shoulders to keep himself floating in place, Tony could only shake his head. “This. This should be impossible, I don't— what in the shit is going on, this is impossible, am I hallucinating right now? Is that what’s going on?”

Loki’s lips thinned, and he glanced to the side in a pretty classic nervous tick. “Perhaps you should look down before I explain everything.”

Glancing down, Tony thought he was going to see what most would see on a human. Instead, inky black shapes spilled out from Loki’s waist, a dark green undertone obvious even in the low light. He thought he knew what they were, but he really didn’t want to say it. Freaking out a little bit seemed like the better course of action at this point of time.

And so Tony did.

“What in the fuck!?” He yelled, air bubbles streaming so quickly out of his mouth and nose that it almost obscured the sight of the hentai fantasy come to life in front of him.

Pinwheeling his arms, he almost propelled himself into the smooth rock wall behind him. Loki’s tentacles shot out and grabbed him, pulling him away from what would have given him a goose egg. Incidentally, it pulled him closer— and the way they wrapped around and restrained his limbs was thoroughly distracting.

Distracting enough that he was both thankful that his swim trunks were loose and flowing in the current of the water, hopefully not betraying his interest in the aforementioned hentai fantasy.

Somehow, Loki didn’t notice— or didn’t know what the bulge at the front of his trunks meant, and given his knowledge of octopuses anatomy, he might not?

But then what was Loki’s anatomy? And oh, that was another very distracting thought.

“Are you alright?” Loki’s concerned voice broke through the gathering hysteria.

Somehow, Loki didn’t sound different underwater, or if he did, Tony couldn’t tell. Yet another thing that was being added to the list of Shit Tony Didn’t Know.

“Can I plead the fifth on that?” Tony asked, his voice still edged with panic.

Tilting his head to the side in such a human fashion, Loki’s confusion was evident, even to him.

Wrangling his hand out of Loki’s grasp for a moment he rubbed at the corner of one eye, frustration leaking out in a tic he had long been reprimanded for. “It— it doesn't really matter, I just, I can't really process right now? And I don't know how much or how little I’m freaking out right now.”

Loki stared at him for a moment more before shrugging. “I think that’s rather understandable.”

Taking in a gulp of Not Air as he tried to calm down, actually worked, but once more, his brain started to get sidetracked on how the fuck this was all happening.

He was still restrained, and at the last moment before his mind completely blissed out on adrenaline and endorphins, he brought himself back to the brink of awareness because really, when was the next time he would ever be able to experience something like this?

“Loki, I think I’m as okay as I’m going to be right now, so could we go before I start spiraling again?”

Feeling those long limbs unwrapping and sliding around his skin was one of the single most erotic things he had ever experienced and they weren't even planning on having sex. The sensation almost brought his erection back, but he fought it off bravely.

Reaching out, Loki grabbed his hand and tugged him closer. “Come on,” he murmured, clearly still scared that Tony would go into hysterics again. “It’s this way.”

Tony went along with Loki as he tugged them lower, the light from above quickly fading as they went deeper. But not too terribly far below them, a patch of light appeared, hidden under a small overhang that made it virtually impossible to see from above the water.

After wriggling through the hole, they were off, mostly following the craggy coastline before branching off towards what Tony thought, if they were where he thought they were, was a neighboring island.

A neighboring island that had long ago been deemed uninhabitable.

He had to wonder if it had been because of Loki.

Soon enough, they passed through another underwater opening and surfaced to a cavern full of miscellaneous things, and bioluminescent plant life growing on the walls— and honestly, that was the most fascinating thing in there besides Loki.

“Loki, oh my god, this place—” Tony broke off, almost unable to find the words. “It's amazing.”

He turned just in time to catch what he thought was a blush, except it was blue? What the hell? Was it a trick of the light?

“It’s just— it’s just where I live,” Loki said, on the verge of stuttering— and that meant it was definitely a blush. And damn, Loki was pretty cute.

“Well, no matter what, it’s fucking gorgeous. Did you bring all this stuff in here?”

There were fragments of boats, and figureheads, and pretty things that would catch anyone’s eye in the ocean water, let alone someone who lived in it.

“I brought most of it here, some of it made its way in on its own.”

Tony could only stare in awe at it all.

“You like it then?” Loki sounded almost apprehensive, or no— not apprehensive, nervous? Something of the sort. Something that Tony didn’t expect, not at all.

“Of course, how could I not?”

“Well,” Loki said, shrugging. “I didn’t know what someone’s reaction would be like exactly— you're the first person I’ve shown my home to outside of my family.”

“Really?” Tony hadn't exactly expected that. “Not one for making friends with random people and taking them home to meet the parents then?” He teased.

“Not really, no.”

“Well, if you had been and they rejected you, they'd have really fucking missed out.” Tony wondered what else was in here. Long lost treasures of passing ships? Scientific wonders that had never seen the light of day? What would a half-octopus, half-human creature find interesting?

“If you say so,” Loki said, the smirk on his face letting Tony know he was just humoring him.

“Can I ask why you haven't brought anyone else here?” Tony asked, absently swimming over to inspect something set in a recess of the wall.

“A cecaelian’s nest is— very personal.”

“Cecaelian?”

“That’s what I am— I believe some of your people learned it long ago, and that’s what they've called us as well.”

“An octopus person has a cryptozoological name?” Tony asked, almost skeptical. “I wouldn't have guessed.”

“Stranger things have happened, I’m sure.”

“Eh, yeah.” Tony didn't want to let the conversation peter out but he didn’t know how to bring it back up without sounding like he was desperately interested in what he was pretty sure was some sort of mating ritual.

He also needed to figure out why he was actually interested in those very same things.

Something shiny and off to the side caught his eye.

“Is that an astrolabe?” He asked, swimming over to the small device on an outcrop of rock. “I don't think I’ve ever seen one in such pristine condition outside of a museum.”

Loki shrugged. “I found it in a shipwreck one day— I could tell it had some form of importance, and I wanted to see how it worked, so I told it to do so.”

“You told it to work again?” Tony was almost gobsmacked. “How does that work?”

“It works the same way I made you able to breathe underwater, with magic.”

“That was what that kiss was for?”

Loki blushed again. “The kiss helped to facilitate a difficult spell, yes.”

“I’m touched by your effort, Loki, really,” Tony said. “You didn’t have to do this for me, especially if coming here is so special.”

“You were interested,” Loki said. “No one else usually is.”

“Not even other cecaelians?”

“No. Magic is looked down upon throughout many of the oceanic kingdoms.” Loki looked almost sad as he said it.

“Did… something happen?” Tony asked. “Is that why you're out here all alone?”

“Yes.” Loki drifted over from where he had been staying this entire time. “I did something for someone that the king of the realm didn't like.”

“Can I ask what?” Tony wasn't sure that he’d get a response, but he wanted to try anyway.

“I'm—not particularly open to discussing that right this moment, if that's alright with you,” Loki said.

Tony knew he was bound to cross a line somewhere, but he didn't want it to be here. Not in a place where Loki went to retreat from the world.

“I can understand that.”

“Tony, I—”

“Loki, I—”

They began and ended at the same time, and started to giggle.

“You start, I promise I won't interrupt,” Tony said.

Loki smiled. “Tony, I was going to say, I could take you further exploring if you wish. There’s not just this cave— there's a whole system that I live in, and it would be my privilege to show them all to you.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. That wasn't at all what he thought had been going to come out of Loki’s mouth. He was even prepared for Loki to realize this was a mistake and ask him to leave.

“That would be— it would be amazing,” Tony said. He swam closer to Loki again, stopping when there were six inches between them, give or take. He let his hand rise up until it was open on the surface of the water.

“Let’s go?” He asked, and Loki grabbed his hand with his own.

“Let’s.”

* * *

They explored another cavern in the system that day. And another the next day. And the next, and the next, and the next. And then when they ran out of habitable caves for humans, they started to explore the outer reaches of the island chain.

But every day, Loki now greeted Tony in their— and yes, he was calling it theirs, because what else could he call it?— grotto with a long kiss that it was getting harder and harder to become, well, not hard at.

Tony was losing a mounting battle against his erections and it was not a fun time.

He knew that it wasn't technically a kiss, that it was for the spell so that Loki could make him breathe underwater, but—

But Loki had also admitted that it wasn’t entirely for the spell, either.

So what did it mean exactly?

This, not his footing, was what he was thinking about as he made his now daily trek towards the grotto. So when he slipped, dropped his bag, and managed to fall into the pool he wasn't surprised.

He was surprised at how close Loki was to him when he grabbed him and resurfaced. One moment he was floundering in the water, unable to tell which way was up, and the next Loki was pressing him into the side of the pool as he practically coughed his lungs out, trying to clear his airway of any more saltwater.

Their faces were mere inches apart when Tony finished coughing, still panting as he tried to catch his breath.

“Loki?” He asked, unable to stop himself.

“Yes?” Loki’s eyes dipped down to Tony’s lips before darting back up and Tony had to ask now.

“Kiss me? And not like, for the spell, kiss me for real?”

He didn't have to ask twice.

Loki dove towards his mouth, pressing their lips together in a surprisingly gentle manner. He pressed his entire body closer, his tentacles wrapped around Tony’s legs best as they could to tug him closer, and Tony wrapped his arms around Loki’s shoulders in return.

Their lips slid together, saliva slicking the way, and Tony could only hunger for more. The taste of salt and water was everywhere, something that he thought he would have disliked, but it was just Loki. He moaned into the kiss, sliding his tongue past Loki’s lips and too sharp teeth to lick at Loki’s hard palate. Loki’s tongue met his, and they seemed to catch on each other as Tony withdrew, Loki thrusting his tongue into Tony’s mouth at the same time.

Tony’s breath whistled through his nose, speeding up as he ground against Loki best as he could.

He bit and pulled back on Loki’s lip and he shivered in his arms, sliding his tongue against Tony’s bottom lip.

Tony thought he felt something against his thigh, something hard and hot and throbbing, and he shivered at the thought of it.

“Loki, please,” he panted. Tony didn’t know exactly what he wanted, but getting off sounded especially nice right now.

One tentacle glided further up his leg, wrapping around his thigh once before moving towards his dick and he was on the verge of letting out another moan at the thought of Loki touching him.

“What do you want me to do?” Loki asked, nipping at Tony’s lips between the words.

“Touch me, taste me, something, anything, I just want you on me.”

Loki whined, the sound coming out strangled and he dipped down to scrape his teeth against the skin of Tony’s throat. He pressed Tony harder against the wall of the pool and dipped down further, further, down his chest and past his stomach, till he was underwater and looking up at Tony from under the glittering surface.

Then he dragged his trunks down.

They caught on the tentacles wrapped around his legs, but that wasn’t much of a concern for him at the moment. Loki opened his mouth and dragged his tongue up Tony’s hard cock, base to tip, and he did let out a moan this time. The hot tongue warred with the coolness of the water, and he let his head drop back between his shoulders, almost hitting the floor of the cave behind him.

His arms stretched out beside him and he scrabbled for purchase as Loki devoured more of his cock, not even seeming to breathe. Which would make sense because he had gills but— this really shouldn't be what he was thinking about while his cock was in another man’s mouth.

He let out a yell when Loki sank to the bottom of his cock and swallowed and swallowed and just kept swallowing, deepthroating him like it was nothing. Loki's hands came up to frame his hips, pushing him back and the pulling him forward, mimicking the motions Tony would make if he fucked his throat. He made eye contact and forced Tony into the movement harder, almost like he was—

Like he was trying to get Tony to do it for him.

Tony slowly brought his hand down to entwine into Loki's hair and pushed him down onto his cock. He pulled him back and then pushed him down again and set a punishing rhythm, one that Loki didn't seem to mind.

He let out another yell at a particularly well-placed swallow, one that let Tony sink further into Loki's mouth than any of his other thrusts had.

As he was fucking Loki's mouth, Loki’s tentacles drew his swimming trunks down his legs till they were free from the constraining fabric. He let one dangle free but wrapped the other around Loki's back. He pressed the heel of his foot into the small of his back, hoping that would draw him closer, and it did. Loki ground his cock against his calf and moaned around his cock as he did so.

After a few more thrusts on both their parts, Loki easily broke Tony's grip on his hair and drew back, surging up to connect their mouths again. Tony could taste salt and the bitterness of his precome in his mouth and it made him want more— more of whatever they were doing.

All of a sudden, Loki pressed on Tony's shoulders, turning him around, and he was too stunned to do anything about it. Loki kissed down his neck and spine until he was at the crest of his ass and then he licked.

Tony had just enough presence of mind to not grind forward into the rock wall.

The water level was just grazing his lower back so as Loki dipped down further, it was a contrast of hot tongue and cool water everywhere, and Tony was lost in his moans. His head was pillowed on his arms, and he rolled it to the side to get fresh air as he panted.

“God, fuck, how are you so good at this?” Tony said.

Loki didn't respond, and Tony was glad of it, not sure if he wanted an answer. Instead, Loki's tongue danced across and pressed inside his hole, something Tony had never expected to try, or discover he loved.

Two of the tentacles on his legs tightened and pulled his legs further apart so that he was almost forced to straddle an outcropping under water. Then yet another tentacle joined Loki’s tongue and spread his hole wider leaving him with more to clench down on.

The tongue licked around his hole, pressing past the bumps that were the suckers, which left a delicious sensation inside him, rubbing past his prostate with each thrust. A fourth tentacle snuck around his waist and wrapped around his cock from bottom to top.

Tony cried out, the sound echoing around them and he felt Loki smirk into his skin. The too-sharp teeth pressed into his skin, delicious pin-pricks of pain that had him on the verge of crying with everything that he was feeling. Sparks raced up his spine as suckers ran across his prostate and he gasped as the pleasure ratcheted higher. He was sure his cock was leaking in the smooth grip that the tentacle had it in and he tested a thrust into it.

It felt as good as Loki’s mouth had.

The slick grip, velvet feel, the heat, it was driving him crazy. Between that and the feeling of Loki in his ass, it was a wonder he hadn't come yet.

“Please, please, please,” he whined, voice dragging free of his throat.

Loki’s mouth broke away for a moment. “Please what, Tony?”

“Please, I wanna come.” Tony was lost, spots dancing in front of his eyes as his body raced ahead of what his mind was ready for.

Another tentacle pressed towards his hole. “What would you have me do?”

“More,” Tony moaned. “More of everything.”

“I can give you that.” Loki firmly attached his mouth to a spot on his right buttock and sucked, sure to leave a hickey there. The tentacles inside him and the tentacle on his cock started moving, bumps racing along his skin, electrifying him like a livewire. He sobbed his pleasure, tears dropping onto his arms. This was a high more potent than fucking LSD.

One of Loki's hands crept around his waist and dipped below his cock, heading for his balls, and a gentle squeeze later he was coming.

It was a sudden surge of feeling, all his muscles clenching up at once, tight as a bowstring, and then instant relaxation. He lay limp against the rock wall, Loki still grinding against his calf behind him. The tentacles drifted off of him, slipping out of him and off his cock and legs. Free from the constraints but already missing them, he turned to face Loki as he rose from the water.

The rocks ground into his back as Loki pressed forward, mouthing at his neck. Tony once more wrapped his arms around Loki’s shoulders when he rose high enough to do so.

“Can I make you come?” He asked. “I don't think you can fuck me right now, but I can definitely use my hand.”

Loki whined, high and reedy, face flushed blue. “Please, Tony.”

Tony reached down through the writhing tentacles and took hold of Loki’s dick, big and heavy as it was.

More natural lubricant seeped through his fingers, even under water.   gripped it tighter and stroked, up and down it, as Loki shook within his embrace.

“Tony.”

“Yes?”

“More.”

He stroked harder twisting at the head and what looked like precome leaked out of the slit at the tip of his cock. Not many biological differences there then.

Faster and faster he went, a constant supply of lube and water easing the way and finally, Loki shook apart in his arms. He ended up clinging to Tony like a limpet, arms clasped tight around his shoulders and tentacles wrapped even tighter around his legs. Tony rubbed his back and soothed him down from his temporary high.

Tony kissed his temple and shushed his whimpers. He was kind of curious about that honestly. It had been good but not that good. Well. Almost that good, he had to admit.

“I’m so sorry Tony.” Loki finally choked out.

This was not where he had expected this to go.

“Sorry?” Tony asked. “For what?”

“I— I defiled you. Before, before we even courted or anything.”

Definitely not where he had expected this to go.

“Uh, well, we don't have time to unpack all of that, but why don’t you give me the overview.”

“I— we—”

“We had sex?”

“Yes,” Loki said, blushing.

Oh, lord.

“Okay, so we had sex, not like anything can come of it.”

“You mean to say I couldn't have gotten you with child? That is what my— my parents always told me.” Loki started to sound a little less panicked now.

“Well first off, I don't want to touch the lack of sex ed in the ocean, so I’m not going to, secondly, I don't have the equipment for… that anyway, so we’re in the clear.”

Loki’s forehead dropped to the crook of his neck. “Thank the seas.” His head shot up again. “Not that I object to the thought of young ones with you—” he blushed again, “—just. Not right now.”

Surprisingly, neither did Tony.

They had gotten to know each other over the past weeks, and it had been fun. Filled with shared space and laughter and flirting. And more than a few gazes that took in everything they could.

This. This could be something.

Still. This was also not where he had expected the conversation to go to, but it was a direction he could get down with.

He wanted to know something first. “You said something about courting?”

He wasn’t above a little manipulation after all.

A light shined in Loki’s eyes. “I could… explain? Back in my home?”

Tony smiled. “That would be great.”

After a shared kiss with a double meaning, they were off.

The journey seemed to go faster today. He didn't have to pay as much attention to where they were going anymore after almost daily trips to Loki’s cavern, but as they danced around each other in the water, he knew it should have gone longer.

But.

There was a lightness between them now that he couldn't write off.

They snuck through the hole to Loki’s home and not for the last time, Tony was amazed.

He swam off to the side where he had amassed his own hoard of treasure and snuck a tarnished ring into his reclaimed swim trunks. Loki was behind him when he turned around.

They kissed, long and slow, and began to float into the middle of the pool. Enclosed in his arms, Tony felt safer and happier than he had anywhere else in a long time.

“And now, I will explain.”

It was fascinating, the cecaelian culture that Loki was describing. Elaborate courting rituals (that sounded suspiciously similar to what they had been doing the past few weeks. But at this point, Tony didn't mind.) and a rock solid hierarchy that Loki had once been at the top of.

He got the explanation of why Loki had been exiled.

Tony didn't mind that either. He knew what it was like, trying to get the approval of a distant father and never living up to someone on a pedestal. They stayed in the water until Tony was beyond pruney and they had to refresh the spell, something that had never happened before. That kiss had almost led to another round of sex, something that Loki had, unfortunately, put a stop to rather quick. Apparently, they weren't to that level of courtship yet.

And Loki was mum on what would lead them to that level. Tony had a sneaking suspicion what it was but wasn’t ready to voice it yet.

When Tony got back to the beach house that they were renting for the summer, no one had waited up for him. There was no surprise “why are you out past curfew” speech, no note, not even a light left on. He had expected as much from Howard, but nothing from Mom?

It hurt. More than he expected.

He went to bed and dreamt of Loki.

He never saw the light on in the kitchen where Maria had been sure that her son would come through the back door.

* * *

“Loki?” He called, his voice echoing around the cave. He ended up almost jumping out of his own skin when Loki’s head popped out of the water at his feet.

“Yes, Tony?” He asked, sharp teeth glinting in his smile.

“Asshole,” Tony retorted, reaching down to the water to splash at him when a realization hit him.

He wanted to kiss Loki again. He wanted to hold him and sleep next to him and do everything his parents did but for real.

He wanted to see if he could meet Loki’s parents one day.

He wanted Loki.

“I don't know for sure,” Tony started. “But I think I might be falling in love with you?” He knew his voice sounded conflicted and could only hope that it wouldn't hurt Loki’s feelings, but here they were. His big mouth getting him into trouble again.

Loki didn’t look hurt though. He looked almost radiant.

“I find myself feeling quite the same way.” There was a glow to Loki, something infectious about him that Tony wanted to share. It had him slipping into the water next to Loki and kissing him, tasting salt on his lips.

Something slow and passionate was born out of that, longer even than the ones from the day before.

Loki drew himself out of it and nuzzled Tony’s cheek. “Will you stay with me?”

“Like, for the night?” Tony asked. “Hell yeah.”

“No,” Loki chuckled. “With me. Forever?”

Tony’s jaw dropped. His first instinct was to say yes, yes, yes, of course, yes, but then.

But then.

He remembered that he’d barely known Loki for a month and a half if that.

He bit his lip. “Give me some time to think?”

“Of course,” Loki assured, quick to soothe him. “What can I do for you? Leave you alone? Carry on like usual?”

“Can we pretend it’s a normal day?” Tony asked, kissing Loki on the cheek. “Just us and the ocean?”

Loki nodded. “I can do that.”

He drew Tony into another kiss, and this time Tony felt the difference. A coolness that ran through his veins, something that had definitely been missing from their previous kisses. As their mouths moved against each other, Tony could feel himself becoming aroused but tamped it down. If he went with his gut decision, the one that was still tugging at him, he would be able to have as many kisses as he liked in the future.

They separated and Loki gave Tony an incandescent look, one that promised the best of all days.

And it was.

They played tag through local schools of fish, ate fresh seaweed and slurped oysters out of their shells, all things that Tony might look forward to doing again someday soon.

At long last, after a day of exploration and kisses, sunset came, and they separated with a promise to see each other the next day.

Tony promised to have a decision made the next day.

But it wasn't meant to be.

Howard ambushed him on the way back inside the rental house.

“Where were you yesterday?” He asked. “And today? In fact, where have you been for this entire trip?”

“Um.”

“I want an answer, young man, your mother has been worried sick this entire time while you’ve been off gallivanting about an entire island.”

“Like you even wanted me around.” Tony couldn't help himself and let the mutter escape.

“Believe what you want about me, but I wasn't the one to leave your mother in the kitchen waiting all night.”

That, that cut to the quick. But Tony didn't believe it. “Yeah right, there wasn't a single light on last night.”

“Thanks for admitting you didn’t come home until past your curfew.” Howard took a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket. “For that your grounded.”

“You can't do that!” Tony stomped his sandaled foot and put his hands on his hips. “I’m an adult, you can’t tell me what to do now.”

“An adult, are you?” Howard asked, smoke puffing out of his mouth. “Then act like one, and stop being an unruly child.”

“This isn't fair!”

“Fair?” Howard asked. “That’s the route you're going?”

Tony stayed silent.

“Go ahead, give me the silent treatment. Won't change the fact that you’re coming with us on a trip to the museum and out to lunch.”

Tony’s breath caught in his throat, but he didn't let himself react other than that.

“And we’re leaving on Saturday, so tell whatever floozy you’ve been fucking that you won't be seeing her anymore.”

Tony grew panicked. “That’s two days from now though,” he said, backing up towards the door and drawing in quicker breaths.

“Gee, so glad my heir can do basic math,” Howard drawled.

“So, so we’re just gonna, like, leave early?”

“I’m a millionaire, I’m sure I can spare the expense.”

“Fine. Fine!” Tony said and started towards the stairs to his room. “But don’t expect me to come happily tomorrow.”

He stopped halfway up and waited for Howard to go back to his and Mom’s room.

His and Maria’s room.

Because there was no way in hell he wouldn't have noticed a light in the kitchen last night.

He heard the click of the latch to their sticky door and shot down the stairs again and was out the door before he had time to breathe.

He wasn't leaving Loki, not if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

The world was dark and unfamiliar, the once welcoming cave turning into a death trap with only the stars there to light the way.

“Loki!” He called. “Loki, are you there?”

He heard nothing but the gentle lapping of the water against the rocks.

“Loki, please,” Tony whined. He hugged himself against the chill of the breeze off the water.

A quiet splash from the other side of the cave caught his attention. He leaned forward but underestimated how close to the edge of the pool he was.

Tony toppled into the water with a scream, something catching him and dragging him further into the dark water. They suddenly rocketed towards the surface.

“Tony!” Loki shouted. “Tony, are you alright?”

Tony clung to Loki, fingers speared through his hair, eyes wide. “Howard wants to leave in two days and I can't— I can't do that, I can't leave you.”  He drew back and just shook his head. “I can't leave you.”

Loki pressed forward and brought their mouths together. Tony let the kiss happen, glad to have physical contact between the two of them. Their mouths slid against each other and all Tony wanted to do was get lost in it. But things were too dire to allow that.

“Loki,” he started, drawing out of the kiss. “I want to stay with you.”

“Really, Tony?” Loki asked, hope gleaming in his eyes, something Tony could see even in the low light. “That’s wonderful!”

“It is, but,” Tony bit his lip. “We need to do whatever it is tonight. Because I won't be here much longer, and, and I just. I can’t be without you.”

Loki drew Tony into another kiss, harsher this time, looking for more and Tony was more than willing to give it.

“Please, let me keep you?”

“Always.”

Loki’s mouth wandered down to his neck, biting at the straining tendons as Tony arched into the sensation.

“Let me claim you?” Loki asked and looked up at Tony through his wet eyelashes. He pressed Tony against the stone and he shivered for more reasons than just the cold rock behind him.

“Yes.”

“Then we can do it tonight.”

Loki’s tentacles wrapped around Tony’s waist once more, dragging at his wet clothes. His shirt tore at the force, and his swim trunks were no match either.

“You won't be needing those anymore.”

The shreds were left to float and drag through the water around them, to be taken somewhere else as the high tide eventually took them away.

Loki simply pressed Tony harder against the rock, grinding their pelvises together, cock already hard and ready at a moment’s notice.

Tony’s was waking up as well. It was soon hard and weeping next to Loki’s, rubbing and frotting as they rocked together. A tentacle snuck around behind Tony and down, down towards his hole. Natural lubricant soothed Tony as he was stretched by one, then by two tentacles, going faster than they had before.

A third slinked its way in and grazed his prostate, warmed up already by the previous tentacles. Tony moaned, low in his throat and Loki smiled against his mouth.

“Does that feel good, my sweet one?”

“Yes,” Tony breathed.

Hands turned him around, breaking the kiss, and set him, softly, against a piece of the floor that slanted into the water at the perfect angle to be comfortable against. How Tony hadn’t noticed it before, he didn’t know.

“Loki, Loki please,” Tony whimpered. He writhed on the stone floor, desperate for Loki to touch him again.

“Sh, sh, all will be well,” Loki soothed.

He positioned himself against Tony’s hole and pushed, the opening still not being stretched enough for his bulk. The head popped in and Tony’s head dropped down to pillow on his arms.

This was happening, it was really happening.

Loki pressed forward and forward, till at last he was buried to the hilt inside Tony and then he let out a groan of his own.

“So warm,” he muttered, hands coming up to frame Tony’s hips. “So soft.”

He drew back and slammed back in, harder than he intended because the next wasn’t half so hard and Tony was honestly grateful for it. He didn't know if he could take a fucking like that with Loki being the size that he was.

In and out Loki went, almost meditative in his pace when Tony squeezed down on him, clenching heretofore unused muscles. Loki went rigid behind him, thrusting into him, sharp as a hit on a snare drum.

“Fuck,” Loki swore as he leaned forward to frame Tony, long arms caging him in against the rock.

He broke and he surged behind him, pistoning his cock in and out of Tony’s wet hole and all he could do was whimper and moan and pant. Not a bad deal really.

A wonderful change in angle had Loki’s cock grazing against his prostate with every movement and Tony flailed in the water, trying to thrust back but not having enough leverage to do it.

“Loki,” he whined, “please, please, I’m—”

“Mine,” Loki grunted, interrupting. “After this, you're mine, and will always be mine, my mate forever.”

“Yes,” Tony said, his breath coming in pants. “Yes, yours, forever, but please, let me come?”

Leaning forward, Loki pressed Tony further into the wall, trapping his wrists in place and forcing his legs further apart. “Come for me,” he whispered, nipping at Tony’s earlobe. “Come, and stay with me.”

Tony felt something crack inside him, and he let go with a shout, his cry echoing off the rock walls around them.

Loki continued to pump behind him as something surged through his veins, something cold and hot at the same time. It concentrated at his fingers and toes then drew back towards his torso, burning new pathways along with it.

He could still feel Loki behind him, but it was like he wasn’t within his own body anymore. His feet drew together under the water and then fused and grew, creating a tail, while webbing grew between his fingers.

It was painful.

But at the same time, Loki was still fucking him and driving his blood through his veins and dragging his cock along his prostate with every stroke and he wanted to feel it forever.

The burning pain dissipated around his upper arms, but continued all the way up along his thighs and waist, coming to a finish along the lines of his ribs. Through all of it, Tony didn’t think his cock had softened once.

Loki continued behind him, chasing their climaxes once more. Something felt different now, he felt tighter, but he could arch back and grind into Loki even more now.

So he did.

Loki stuttered to a stop and dig his hips into Tony’s. His hands stayed on Tony’s next to the rock while two tentacles wound their way past Tony’s hip and around his cock, wrapping around it and creating suction on it like a mouth.

He was coming in seconds. Loki followed soon after.

He clenched down again, tighter even than before, and Loki bit him, high on his neck, breaking the skin.

A high cry broke out of his throat as he came, and he felt Loki still behind him after a few more sporadic thrusts.

Loki licked at the bite mark he had made and entwined himself around Tony as much as he could.

“Are you alright?” Loki asked, lips moving against Tony’s skin in a mesmerizing manner.

“Yeah,” Tony panted. His teeth caught on his lip in a strange way, like they were sharper than before—

“Loki do you have a mirror?”

He nosed at Tony’s neck and drew in a breath from near his hairline. “Yes, in one of the caves of my home.”

“Can we go see what I look like because I don't think I’m human anymore.”

Tony wasn't freaking out as much as he thought he should be. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing, per se, but this was a life-changing event. He was supposed to be off the walls with nerves. Instead, he was calm and assured, asking Loki if there was a way for him to see what he now looked like.

“Would you like to leave to look or should I bring it here?”

Tony didn’t want to leave, not yet, but he didn’t want Loki to leave either. The thing was, he also knew that Loki could swim faster and carry it further, depending on how big it was.

“Can you bring it here?” He asked in a small voice.

One of Loki’s hands lifted from his hip and waved in a lazy circle in the air, a portal forming in the ring. He reached through and took out a mirror that had to be as tall as Tony, if not taller.

“Was that— magic?” Tony asked, brain not processing it properly.

Loki nodded against him. “It was, yes.”

“That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.”

Loki smiled into his skin. “I’m glad you thought so. Now, would you like to see yourself?”

Loki had lowered the mirror until it lay flat on the sandy bottom of the pool and Tony dove down to stare at himself. He held his breath and closed his eyes, then looked down.

He had a long grey and white tail, scaleless, and an upright tail fin, pelvic fins framing it near where his feet would have been if he still had them. Was he some sort of shark?

The lack of freaking out was almost freaking him out by this point, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Loki dove down to stare at him in the mirror as well.

“You’re a very handsome shark mer, I can tell you that. Many where I grew up would be jealous, my adopted brother included.” Loki cocked his head. “I do believe your dorsal fin is larger than his. We may not be able to go our usual route out.”

“I— I don’t know what I’m doing Loki,” Tony said. Something cracked inside his chest and he didn't know how to react to what was going on around him anymore. “I wanted to stay with you, but my parents—”

“I can change you back,” Loki said, but the look in his eye was one of devastation. “I— I wouldn’t want to, but I can.”

“No, no, Loki, no,” Tony assured, bubbles rushing out of his mouth. “That isn’t what I want at all. I just. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. And I don't know where I can turn.”

“You can turn to me?”

“That's what I did, and I don't regret that, but I don't— I don't know how to do anything and—”

“And I’ll be here and never leave you,” Loki said, drawing closer and gripping Tony’s upper arms in his hands. “I want you to be safe and happy with me.”

“But how do I do that?” Tony wanted to fall into despair but knew to an extent that he couldn’t let himself do that.

“Stay with me, and I’ll show you.”

Tony drew in a deep breath. Could he do that?

Could he trust Loki with his entire being?

“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

Loki pressed forward and kissed Tony, licking deep into his mouth. He separated them and flicked his eyes between Tony’s. Then, again, his hand lifted and drew a lazy circle where a portal formed from. He drew Tony through it, and they were gone, lost in the dark water ahead of them.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!! i do have a few more things planned in this universe, but theyll be short and shouldnt take me literally a year to write klsjdf  
> Come talk to me!  
> [mastodon (a twitter clone)](https://lesbiab.space/@buying_the_space_farm)  
> [fandom twitter](https://twitter.com/SpaceFarmBaby)  
> [writing/personal twitter](https://twitter.com/alex_fitz_yo)  
> [Dreamwidth](https://sentient-teapot.dreamwidth.org/)  
> [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/sentient-teapot)  
> my tumblrs! for however long that lasts  
> [fandom tumblr](https://frostiron-is-endgame.tumblr.com)  
> [personal tumblr](https://spacefarm-official.tumblr.com)  
> my discord handle is sentient-teapot#7833 (feel free to dm me :D)  
> And I also have a [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/spacefarm-official)


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